Home of The Cookery

I love tiramisu and frankly their is absolutely nothing wrong with the original recipe made using mascarpone, it is rich, luscious and always a winner. However, I am so in love with the Gourmet Greeks Greek Yoghurt that I had to give it a try using yoghurt instead of mascarpone. What a treat, it is still as delicious, but a little less rich which means you can eat more! Now that’s what I call a successful recipe update.

Please note I tried this with 3 other supermarket Full Fat Greek Yoghurts it did not work, I noticed that only a truly drained yoghurt works, even the premium supermarket products may contain vegetable starch to thicken this prevents the tiramisu from setting.

Method
STEP 1: Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick, pale and creamySTEP 2: Now gently fold the whipped cream and Greek yoghurt into the egg yolk mixtureSTEP 3: Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold these into the yoghurt & egg yolk mixture, being careful to not knock out too much airSTEP 4: Using a flat glass dish mix your coffee and marsalaSTEP 5: Quickly dunk the biscuits into the coffee mixture, then place on the base of your serving tray, dunk the biscuits quickly or they will become too soft.STEP 6: Pour out a third of your yoghurt cream mixture onto the biscotti, now give a good sprinkle of fine unsweetened cocoa powderSTEP 7: Top this with another layer of soaked biscuits and some more cocoa powder. Repeat until ending on a layer of cream and cocoa powder

This is one of those cocktail snacks that is loaded with flavour, quick and easy to make and will impress any guests. You want to use coarse not fine shredded coconut to give the prawns lots of crusty finish. Prawns only take a few minutes to cook, you want to make sure the crust is crispy and the prawns inside cooked, but tender and plump. I had a bottle of lemon scented beer from my visit to the SAB World of Beer on Monday so it seemed like the perfect beer to use.

Start by thoroughly cleaning the prawns, remove the vein, shell and head. Leave the tail intact as it is the perfect way to eat the prawns. Now in a bowl add the garlic, lemon juice, chilli and the prawns, allow to marinade for 20-minutes.

In another bowl combine the flour, egg, baking powder and the beer (start with 40mls beer). It should make a runny batter, if it is too runny add a little more flour, if it is too thick add a little more beer. In a pot heat enough oil to shallow fry the prawns in batches, begin to heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, a drop of batter will sizzle, dust the prawns in some seasoned flour, then quickly dip the prawns into the batter, allow most of it to drain off, then add the prawns to the coconut. Turn the prawns to coat thoroughly in the coconut then fry them till they are crisp and golden. Serve immediately with a chilli and lemon mayo and some extra lemon wedges.

Cut your piece of fillet into 4 medallions. Then between two sheets of grease proof paper flatten the steaks one at a time until they are about 1cm thick, a rolling pin works well. Now in a dish large enough to marinade add the wine, garlic, olive oil and black pepper – now add the flattened steaks. Marinade for about 20-minutes, minimum 10-minutes. In a heavy based saucepan, heat half the butter and the olive oil. When it is hot, remove the steaks from the marinade being careful to remove any pieces of garlic and as much liquid as possible. The steaks should brown so dont over crowd the pan. Allow the steaks to cook about 2-minutes before flipping them. At this stage remove the garlic from the wine and add it to the pan, once the garlic has begin to cook, 2-minutes remove the steaks and set them aside somewhere warm. Now add the marinade to the pan and allow it to reduce, making sure you loosen all the yummy bits. Now add the cream, milk and parsley to the pan and allow it to reduce, just before adding the steaks back to the pan add the last half of the cold butter and stir it in. Add the steaks and remove from the heat.

Serve topped with a fried egg and with some home made potato chips to absorb all the yummy garlicky sauce.

Quick and easy, these flourless pancakes are loaded with crunchy chewy almond, coconut and sweet banana. These are my standard go to on days when the sweet tooth is strong plus with just over a month if winter to go these will help cheer you up. They are quick and easy to make and the addition of ricotta to the batter increases the protein content and adds to the pancakes creamy flavour.

Place the banana, egg and vanilla into a blender and blend until smooth (If the clean up is too much hassle just mash the bananas with a fork and add the beaten egg). Pour the batter into a bowl and now add the almond and coconut. Stir them in remaining ingredients, heat a heavy based pan and add a little butter to the pan and allow to melt. Add the pancake mixture in large spoonfuls allow to puff up, and for bubbles to begin to appear. Then flip them and allow them to finish cooking. They are very delicate, so allow them time, I also found it is easier to make smaller panacakes than larger ones. Serve the pancakes warm, topped with more greek yoghurt, fresh strawberries and some passion fruit or drizzle of good honey.

This dish is crazy quick, but to make it you are going to need a vegetable mill to make the zucchini spaghetti, I am posting a story on one possible option so if you don’t have one keep a look out to get some ideas.

While you are milling your zucchini, put a pan on the stove. Add the stock, butter and parsley and bring to a boil, now drop the heat to low and add your salmon fillet. Put the lid on and poach for about 4 minutes. Remove the salmon and set aside, keeping warm. Bring the poaching liquor up to a boil and reduce, remove the parsley, and add the lemon juice. Once there is only about a third of the poaching liquid left, remove the pan from the heat and add the milled zucchini and the egg and cream mixture. Stir gently, as you would a carbonara, now add the flaked salmon back into the dish, place over a low heat for 60-seconds and serve straight away.

If you are on a diet and are finding low carb meals challenging add a generous sprinkle of raw pine nuts the pinoleic acid has been shown to lead to a sense of satiety – feeling full, and they will add a delicious crunch to the dish.

I’ve seen a recipe for pancakes made from banana and egg circulating, so I thought I would add to that recipe with this lower carbohydrate savoury option. Banana has around 23 gms carbs/100gms and zucchini has around 3.1 gms carbs/ 100gms making these a great choice and because they are savoury they go really well with a steak or chicken for supper. The addition of the grated parmesan does boost the fat content, but only by a tiny bit and it adds so much flavour. I did these with a simple mushroom ragout but they are equally delicious with smoked salmon and cram cheese, or with a simple fried egg and some bacon pieces.

Grate the zucchini finely and then place into a clean cloth. Wrap the cloth around the zucchini tightly and use it to squeeze all the water out of the zucchini. Now stir in the parmesan and the beaten egg and add some salt and pepper. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a frying pan till hot, then add tablespoons of the mixture and flatten it out gently to get a thin pancake.
Allow the pancake to brown before trying to turn it or it might break apart, once it has caramelised you will be able to flip it and allow it to finish cooking on the other side.

This is the recipe which can be given credit with me embarking on a hunt for the ultimate Melktert, quick and easy to make, the filling cooks in under 10-minutes this is ideal for those bakers who need a quick melktert fix with little hassle. I am taking this as the first entrant in my Melktert hunt- Congratulations to Mandy Watermeyer who the recipe came from.

Bring 2 cans of normal milk to the boil in microwave, then add condensed milk and butter to hot milk and mix well.
In another bowl beat remaining tin of milk, 2 eggs, maizena, custard powder and salt till smooth and runny. Pour this mixture into the bowl of hot milk and beat again – add vanilla

Place in microwave on high for 2 minute intervals beating with hand beater in between to remove lumps. Repeat until mixture is consistency of thick porridge – usually 4 x 2 minutes

Pour over base and sprinkle with cinnamon then allow to cool and set

Keeps well in fridge – if there is any left!!!

I made this exact recipe except I took it to the stove stop, old habits die hard. If you prefer to do it this way it still only takes about 10 minutes to make but there is more elbow grease involved. Heat the milk in a pot, then make the cold custard mixture as suggested and add the hot milk to that slowly, then place it on the stove and whisk till it s thickened.

These little pancakes are the perfect thing for a brunch with friends. You can prep the batter in advance, and it only takes a few minutes, then make a huge batch, which cook really quickly because they are so little. Then let your guests do the rest just provide them with some sliced parma ham, smoked salmon and a bowl of hot spicey mushrooms, depending on what they feel like they can assemble them themselves.

To make the batter, sieve the flour, salt and baking powder together. Whisk the eggs and milk together. Make a well in the centre and add the egg and milk mixture. Whisk together thoroughly – allow to stand for at least 10-minutes. Heat some butter in a heavy frying pan and add the mixture 1-tbsp at a time, once bubbles begin to appear, turn the pancake over and cook for a further minute until done. Stack the pancakes to help keep them warm and repeat until all the batter is finished.

If you have a small gas burner that won’t look out of place on a table you can make the pancakes with your guests so that they are always hot and fresh, plus its actually fun!

This is one of those soups where you just throw everything into a pot, pretty much forget about it and then blend it into creamy perfection. Whilst it does have the carbs from the potatoes, it is low fat and because of the very quick cooking of the broccoli at the end it is still hugely nutritious.

Potato, Leek, Bacon & Broccoli Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients
– 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
– 250gms French leeks
– 60gms butter
– 600 – 900ml vegetable stock
– 400gms broccoli
– 100gms mature cheddar, grated
– 200gms bacon
– 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– extra milk to dilute soup
In a heavy based pot heat the olive oil, then add the chopped bacon. Allow the bacon to cook until almost crisp, remove some of the bacon to use as sprinkles at the end, then add the leaks and butter to the remaining bacon in the pan. Cook the leaks till soft, then add the potatoes and vegetable stock. Cook this until the potatoes are soft, the smaller your potato cubes, the quicker your soup will cook. Now add the broccoli, and cook for no more than 5 minutes. The broccoli will soften quickly and if you over cook it you will lose the lovely green colour it gives. Add the soup, carefully, in batches to a blender and blend until smooth. Put the blended soup back into the pot over low heat and add the grated cheese, stir to combine, check seasoning and adjust, if the soup is too thick add a splash of the milk. Serve soup hot sprinkled with some of the reserved bacon and a little more grated cheese.

To assemble the salad, pick through the mushrooms and wipe clean. If there are any bigger shitake or shimeji mushrooms that are too big just slice them into smaller pieces, now in a bowl big enough to fit the mushrooms, add 2tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil and 1tbsp black balsamic. Add the mushrooms to this mixture and toss to coat.

Heat a heavy based frying pan over high heat, add 1tbsp olive oil. When it is smoking hot add the tiny halloumi chunks, don’t move them once you have added them, allow them to caramelise as quickly as possible, then flip them so the brown on the other side. Don’t fuss too much about trying to brown all sides, as long as you allow the halloumi to get a nice crust on one side it will taste amazing. As soon as it is caramelised tip it onto a board and allow it too cool. If the little chunks have stuck together allow the mixture to cool for a minute or two and then just cut it into cubes again – its molten cheese doesn’t matter how it looks it tastes good!

Now finish assembling the salad. Drain the mushroom from any extra marinade and top the rocket. Sprinkle the now warm cubes of halloumi over, add the spring onions, cashew nuts and red pepper strips. If you are using the fresh tumeric grate it over the top at this stage, use a microplane type grater or the pieces could be bitter! Dress with balsamic and De Rustica Olive oil to your taste.

The Secret Jozi Chef & The Cookery

Paul Maciel, started well known Jozi restaurant Pronto in 2004, after 12 years Paul sold Pronto and decided to follow his passion for writing and teaching about food with the launch of his blog The Secret Jozi Chef and his cooking school The Cookery. The Cookery and multipurpose kitchen space in Craighall Park.
The venue hosts fun social classes for students during the week as well as interactive chef's table events. The venue is staffed by a team that loves what they do always ensuring a welcoming space. The Cookery is equipped with state of the art Whirlpool and KitchenAid appliances and plenty of room for larger groups to cook.